The United States has recorded 50 million coronavirus infections and is nearing 800,000 fatalities, according to Washington Post figures, in the latest set of grim milestones during the pandemic.
Nearly a fifth of the world’s 270 million infections have been detected in the United States, while several other countries have recorded more infections as a percentage of their populations. The United States has also logged more deaths than any other country in the world, although health experts have said global figures are likely to be an undercount.
To combat the rise in cases, the Biden administration and many state governments — led by Democratic and Republican governors — have repeatedly urged Americans to get vaccine doses and booster shots against the coronavirus. California and New York have also reintroduced mask mandates as they brace for a surge in omicron variant infections.
Here’s what to know
- Omicron appears to cause less severe illness than earlier variants of the coronavirus but is more resistant to the two-dose Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, according to a major private study in South Africa.
- Pfizer announced Tuesday that in a final analysis, its experimental antiviral pill sharply reduced hospitalizations and deaths among people at high risk of severe illness because of age or underlying medical conditions.
- China, one of the world’s last countries maintaining a zero-covid policy, has reported its first omicron cases in two patients who recently returned from abroad.
- Planning to travel internationally for the holidays? Here’s what you need to know.
MORE ON THE OMICRON VARIANT
Pfizer’s anti-covid pill prevents severe illness and should work against omicron, company says
As the omicron variant threatens to wipe out a mainstay of coronavirus treatment, Pfizer announced Tuesday that in a final analysis, its experimental antiviral pill sharply reduced hospitalizations and deaths among people at high risk of severe illness because of age or underlying medical conditions.
Reinforcing an earlier analysis from November, Pfizer’s drug cut hospitalizations and deaths by nearly 90 percent when taken within three or five days of the onset of symptoms, the company announced. Preliminary laboratory studies suggest the easy-to-take drug will hold up against the omicron variant.
Two antiviral pills, Pfizer’s and one from Merck, are under consideration by regulators — and additional safe and effective treatment options can’t arrive soon enough.
Omicron is more resistant to vaccines but causes less severe covid, South African study finds
By Lesley Wroughton8:10 a.m.
CAPE TOWN, South Africa — Omicron appears to cause less severe illness than earlier variants of the coronavirus but is more resistant to the two-dose Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine widely used in South Africa, according to the first major private study since omicron was first detected last month.
The study by Discovery Health, South Africa’s largest health insurer, of 211,000 positive coronavirus cases showed that risk of hospital admissions among adults who contracted covid-19 was 29 percent lower than in the initial pandemic wave that emerged in March 2020.
However, the study found that the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine provided just 33 percent protection against infection, much less than the level for other variants detected in the country so far. At the same time, the vaccine provided 70 percent protection against severe complications that would require a patient to be hospitalized, the study found, calling that “very good protection.”
Doja Cat tests positive for coronavirus
Doja Cat, the singer and rapper famous for songs such as “Say So” and “Kiss Me More,” said she had tested positive for the coronavirus in a statement posted on her social media accounts on Monday, forcing her to cancel multiple performances planned this month.
Her covid-19 status means she won’t be performing as scheduled in Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Atlanta and Miami, she said in a statement. “I’m doing ok and look forward to recovering and getting back out there,” she said.
The 26-year-old was scheduled to perform on the iHeart Radio Jingle Ball tour. The Black Eyed Peas, the Jonas Brothers, Ed Sheeran and BTS were among those scheduled to perform at some of the tour’s venues.
Two days earlier, the singer said members of her production crew had been infected. She and other members entered quarantine, she said.
This is at least the second time that Doja Cat has contracted the coronavirus. In July 2020, she said she had been infected with the coronavirus in an interview, saying she had undergone a few days of “symptom freakout” before recovering.
S. Korean city will trial facial recognition tech for contact tracing
SEOUL — A South Korean city will trial facial recognition technology to trace close contacts of people who have been infected with the coronavirus.
The system, which is financially supported by the central government, will be rolled out early next year in the city of Bucheon, just outside Seoul. It will be built off data gathered by thousands of CCTV cameras in the area, and use artificial intelligence algorithms to track the movement of patients and close contacts, according to the city’s website.
South Korea, which is battling an early-winter spike in cases, has taken a vigorous approach to contact tracing. It uses information such as credit card records and phone location data, but the recent surge in infections has overwhelmed its tracing system. Health authorities have postponed reopening plans but the infections continue to gain speed amid record daily caseloads. Contact tracers are working round-the-clock to keep up.
The facial recognition technology is expected to expedite the process, and could track 10 people in under 10 minutes, said a Bucheon city official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because she was not authorized to discuss the system. “The new technology will make contact tracing more efficient by improving the tracers’ labor productivity and more accurate by providing additional evidence.”
Other governments have also used tech measures, many of which would have been considered intrusive before the pandemic, in an attempt to combat the spread of the virus, sparking concerns from privacy advocates about potential surveillance outreach.
Bucheon says its tracking system is built on informed consent, but the city has not shared additional details about how it will seek permission from individuals.
South Korean watchdogs and media outlets have cautioned about the pace at which biometric technology is being used to manage the pandemic in the country.
“It is troubling to see government agencies and provincial authorities jumping into these biometric-based systems without proper checks in place,” said People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy, a major rights group.
It had previously called for measures to prevent human rights from being breached by the potential abuse of such technology.
China reports first omicron cases
China has detected its first cases of the omicron variant in two patients who had recently returned to the country from abroad, state media reported this week.
One of the two patients was identified in Tianjin, a major port city near Beijing, while staying at a quarantine facility, local authorities told the Tianjin Daily newspaper. A local health official said Tuesday that the patient, who has been transferred to a designated hospital for covid treatment, does not have a cough or a fever.
China is one of the last countries maintaining a zero-covid policy, and Beijing requires all inbound travelers to quarantine for two to three weeks and to undergo repeated testing.
Authorities from the southern city of Guangzhou reported one case of the omicron variant Tuesday. The patient was a 67-year-old man who tested positive while under home quarantine; he had already completed two weeks of quarantine in dedicated facilities in Shanghai and was allowed to fly to Guangzhou on Saturday.
Wu Hao, a public health expert who advises the central government on coronavirus policies, insisted that China is “very safe,” given that the two cases had minimal contact with the general population.
“The omicron variant fundamentally is still a coronavirus, and the pattern with which it spreads is similar to past coronaviruses,” Wu said in an interview with Beijing Daily. “So the conventional methods of protection are still effective.”
Since early 2020, China has shuttered its doors to most foreigners while strictly managing the movement of citizens returning home. Most reported cases since the virus was first detected in Wuhan have been traced to overseas returnees, the government claims.
China is battling a spate of cases in Zhejiang province, where around 200 infections have been detected since last week. To clamp down on the spread of the virus, regional travel restrictions will be in place until March 2022, according to provincial officials.
Omicron now in the District, Maryland and Virginia, with first case present for weeks
The District, Maryland and Virginia have each detected cases of omicron — including one in Northern Virginia reported over the weekend — but the newest coronavirus variant has been present in the region for at last three weeks, public health data shows.
The earliest known case of omicron in United States was found in a 40-year-old woman from Maryland who was tested Nov. 21, three days before the existence of the new variant was publicly announced. The discovery of the variant in the country prompted the federal government to enact travel restrictions and ushered in the latest chapter of the pandemic.
Although residents in the greater Washington region had to wait for sequencing to know omicron was present, public health officials have said for weeks that the variant was probably in the area and encouraged residents to continue exercising precautions.
Analysis: 15 sobering stats that tell the tale of the coronavirus in the U.S.
It’s merely the latest in a string of data points that put the toll of the pandemic in stark relief — even as much of the political debate over the virus seems to be moving past it, despite a steady toll of more than 1,000 deaths per day.
While Republicans have long opposed mask and vaccine requirements and argued against other coronavirus mitigation measures, even some prominent Democrats are moving in a similar direction.
Washington Football Team adds four more to covid-19 list, including Jonathan Allen, as injuries mount
The Washington Football Team’s depth is about to be tested even more. On Monday, a day after it lost to the Dallas Cowboys with a depleted roster, Washington placed four more players on the covid-19 reserve list, including starting defensive tackle and sack leader Jonathan Allen.
Rookie defensive end William Bradley-King, a practice squad member who was activated as a covid-replacement player Sunday, also was added to the list, as were linebacker David Mayo and practice squad tight end Temarrick Hemingway. The four were part of a leaguewide issue Monday that included 37 players who tested positive for the coronavirus.
Washington also had a “Tier 3” employee who is not a member of the football operations test positive for the omicron variant, according to a person with knowledge of the situation. The staffer is the first known omicron case in the NFL. Per the NFL and NFL Players Association’s coronavirus protocols, Tier 3 consists of individuals who “perform essential facility, stadium or event services” and are required to avoid close contact with players, football personnel staff and others who work closely with them.
Omicron is upending the holidays for international travelers
By Harrison Jacobs4:45 a.m.
Like so many Americans last holiday season, Emma Webb planned a trip, but it didn’t happen. At the time, she was excited for her father, stepmother and brother in the United Kingdom to meet the baby boy she had shortly before the coronavirus pandemic. Due to a lockdown in Britain, she canceled.
This year, she was more hopeful. She booked another flight, looking forward to the visit after two long years that included the death of her mother, her only relative near her home in central Kansas. But in a matter of weeks, as the spread of the omicron variant triggered new travel restrictions worldwide, she has become resigned to a disappointing winter. For Webb and plenty of other international travelers, ramped-up precautions by governments at home and abroad have cast uncertainty over their holiday reunions.
“I’m concerned whether my family is ever going to meet my kid.” said Webb, a 44-year-old project manager for a nonprofit. “I can’t see a world where there isn’t another variant that pops up.”